Overview
Since Aristotle, similar areas of study have been segmented into increasingly disparate disciplines, creating the idea of "interdisciplinarity." In this ideal introduction to a hotly contested arena of literary theory, Joe Moran traces the history and use of the daunting term and the rise of interdisciplinary English, literary and cultural studies, and literature, science, space and nature. He also addresses how we use these constantly evolving disciplines to create new forms of knowledge.Synopsis
Interdisciplinarity covers one of the most important changes in attitude and methodology in the history of the university.
Taking the study of English as its main example, this fully updated second edition examines the ways in which we have organized knowledge into disciplines, and are now reorganizing it into new configurations as existing structures come to seem restrictive. Joe Moran traces the history and use of the term ‘interdisciplinarity’, tackling such vital topics as:
- the rise of the disciplines
- interdisciplinary English
- Literary and Cultural Studies
- 'theory' and the disciplines
- texts and histories
- literature and science, space and nature.
Including an updated further reading section and new concluding chapter, Interdisciplinarity is the ideal entry point into one of today's most heated critical debates.
Victorian Poetry
And as I discussed two years ago in this column, the Routledge "New Critical Idiom" series offers some excellent overviews of significant terms and topics in contemporary theory.